With the ongoing turmoil engulfing Syria, the United States of America today endorsed the call of Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States in calling on all parties in Syria to cease all violence during Eid al-Adha.
Eid al-Adha is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God.
“We join them in supporting Joint Special Representative Brahimi’s call for a ceasefire so that the Syrian people may observe the religious holiday in peace and security.” -Office of the Spokesperson
The United States also urges the Syrian government to stop all military operations and call on opposition forces to follow suit.
The United States also renews call for the Syrian government should also permit full and immediate humanitarian access to conflict-hit areas that have been under siege.
Last month, noting that the conflict still appeared to have no end in sight in Syria, humanitarian situation across the country is also “deteriorating rapidly,” according to United Nations human rights chief.
According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Navi Pillay, thousands have been killed, thousands more injured in the Middle East country due to violence and unrest.
More than 2.5 million people across the Middle Eastern country are affected by the violence.
In June this year, with growing influx of civilians fleeing from conflict, UN reported that humanitarian situation in Syria continues to deteriorate.
Reports say up to 1.5 million Syrians are in need of assistance.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that civilians attempting to flee from fighting need urgent assistance and protection.
OCHA reported that aid agencies continue to face significant access constraints to reaching people in need.
UN estimates that there are over 1 million Syrians inside Syria in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Of that number, it’s an estimated 300,000 internally displaced.
There are over 66,000 refugees in neighboring countries and there are existing refugees, Palestinian refugees, totaling about 500,000 inside Syria as well as a hundred thousand Iraqi refugees inside Syria.
The ongoing conflict in Syria has created a severe and growing humanitarian crisis, and the humanitarian organizations currently operating in Syria are tirelessly working to get aid out as quickly as possible into areas where safety and security are questionable.
Aid workers in Syria are putting their lives in jeopardy every day to get this relief to vulnerable children, women, and men caught in this crisis.
To help meet the growing needs, the United States is providing food, clean water, basic healthcare, medical and other emergency relief supplies to benefit more than 400,000 people in Syria and neighboring countries so far.
In addition, the World Food Program, WFP has distributed id in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
With support from the United States and other donors, WFP has expanded its emergency food assistance to reach now 250,000 conflict-affected Syrians.
The violence in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 19, 000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.